Fairfield Hills Campus' Stratford Hall in Newtown has gone through a thorough cleanup recently. The hall used to be the state mental hospital's library and executive dining hall. Photographed on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. less

Fairfield Hills Campus' Stratford Hall in Newtown has gone through a thorough cleanup recently. The hall used to be the state mental hospital's library and executive dining hall. Photographed on Wednesday, Dec. ... more

Fairfield Hills Campus' Stratford Hall in Newtown has gone through a thorough cleanup recently. The hall used to be the state mental hospital's library and executive dining hall. Photographed on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. less

Fairfield Hills Campus' Stratford Hall in Newtown has gone through a thorough cleanup recently. The hall used to be the state mental hospital's library and executive dining hall. Photographed on Wednesday, Dec. ... more

Today, the town's first selectman works in an office at what was once housed the state mental hospital's main dining facility.

Llodra and her fellow town and school district co-workers and others arrive for work in what they hope one day will be Newtown's signature spot -- a thriving, civic, community and commercial centerpiece.

"It really was quite a place even before the state bought it as a (mental) hospital," Llodra said. "It's gorgeous -- very, very beautiful."

Newtown finds itself at a crossroads of sorts. When the state decided more than a decade ago to close the hospital and walk away from Fairfield Hills, the town jumped at the chance to acquire 186 gently rolling acres of property situated in one of the highest points in town. The site also was dotted with more than a dozen crumbling, hulking brick buildings. The dilemma and opportunity Newtown faces is similar to that any municipality confronts when it acquires an abandoned property.

What do we do with it? How does it fit into the place we want to be? What can we afford?

Invariably, the discussion about Fairfield Hills centers around the identity, culture and future of Newtown, home to about 27,000 in its 60 square miles of rural hills, clusters of retail shops and suburban housing tracts.

"Around town, there are a plethora of views of what Fairfield Hills should become, as many as there are people in town," said James Bernardi, chairman of the Fairfield Hills Authority, which oversees the property.

A combination of uses has been suggested, from commercial development to housing to public facilities.

In recent months, new development plans for the campus have been proposed. They range from recreational facilities and playing fields to a children's museum, a mental health educational resource center and site for a permanent memorial to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

Economic development and Fairfield Hills Authority leaders have a plan to offer $1-a-year, 30-year leases to developers willing to become partners in cultivating the land's potential. The deals would require private contractors to bear remediation and demolition expenses, which are considerable.

Newtown Youth Academy entrepreneur Peter D'Amico built the first private enterprise on the Fairfield Hills campus, matching its traditional brick architecture with his thriving 90,000-square-foot family and youth recreational facility.

D'Amico has been working for several months on a new development concept. It would entail demolishing several buildings to make way for an assortment of shops, offices and restaurants. His multimillion-dollar concept also proposes housing, a notion that would require community approval that so far has not been forthcoming.

"You have to think outside the box to make that thing work," D'Amico said. He said campus development will work best as a venture between private investors and government.

The Fairfield Hills Authority, the entity charged with hearing proposals and implementing the property's master plan, expects to hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss the latest plans.

What has happened so far

Newtown already has reshaped part of Fairfield Hills.

Taxpayers invested $21.7 million to buy and develop the campus, beginning in 2001 with the first vote on the sale. Negotiations began three years earlier when the state was soliciting proposals for the property.

The purchase was finalized in 2004. The land cost $3.9 million and the renovation of Bridgeport Hall into the town's municipal government complex cost $6 million. Additional costs were for playing fields, parking, streetscape, demolition and remediation efforts.

People have debated as much about what they don't want at Fairfield Hills as what they do. The loudest arguments have been against putting housing on the campus; in 2011 a proposal to convert the 193,000-square-foot Cochran House into 160 apartments was rejected based on public opposition.

Town leaders commissioned what became in 2005 a five-year master plan to guide campus development.

The plan, to be updated every five years, included recommendations for land preservation, hiking trails, playing fields, municipal, educational and cultural uses. It also recommended space for commercial enterprises from restaurants and medical offices to corporate offices, day spas, banks, as well as a performing arts theater, museums and art galleries.

Early on, discussions occurred about an alternative high school, or a charter or magnet school. Those ideas, however, gained no traction.

Those who favor economic development, such as D'Amico and other private investors, suggest that without housing, the campus will be limited in attracting businesses to open in that location.

Newtown Economic Development Director Elizabeth Stocker said she recognizes some multifamily or age-restricted housing will command a need for certain businesses. But she said she recognizes the community has spoken against that kind of development.

`We're so fortunate'

Plans are under way for a more than 4,000-square-foot ambulance facility and a design exists for a parks and recreation center. The campus is a potential new home for the Newtown Hook & Ladder Co. if it cannot find suitable acreage closer to the town center. A police station also has been mentioned.

To date, five hospital buildings have been razed with at least 10 more to go.

"We have gotten some grants to help with the campus, but not for demolition," Llodra said, adding the three largest buildings surrounding the municipal center will cost at least $2 million to remove.

"Future generations will thank us for having the courage and the wisdom to take on this challenge. Some day it will all come to pass. We're so fortunate to have the opportunity."